We are happy that we broke the unfavourable series with Denmark now, said Haukeland with joy after Norway’s surprising win

Norway surprisingly defeated Denmark 2:0 in their 3rd match at the World Cup. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, only 18 years old, scored the winning goal at 27:45. The score was closed by Eirik Salsten with an empty net goal and the Norwegians could celebrate their first win of the tournament.

The Norwegians had an incredibly tough draw at the start of the championship, meeting Switzerland, Czech Republic and Finland. According to the paper predictions, the Norwegians did not get a single point and after 3 games they were at the bottom of the A table together with Austria and Great Britain.

The Norwegians got the wind in their sails towards the next round of the World Championship with a win over Denmark. The Danes don’t have an overseas star in the tournament for the first time in several years and it shows in their performance. The Norwegians had a unique opportunity to win.

Post-match interviews

“The game against Denmark is a big derby for us,” goalkeeper Henrik Haukeland, who is experiencing his 7th World Championship, began his part of the dialogue . Moreover, at 29 years old, he has been playing the role of number one for several tournaments in a row and the coaches can rely on him.

“We want to beat them (the Danes) in every game. We have them in our group this year and we play them in the Olympic qualifiers in October, so it was great to break the losing streak right now,” Haukeland continued. Thus, the experienced goalkeeper was referring in the subtext to the 4 losses in a row in competitive matches just against Denmark.

“We have a great line in attack now with Mats, Michael, and Patrick. I think it’s a whole different dimension. The offensive looks very good from our point of view,” the Norwegian number one concluded his interview.

Haukeland mentions in particular the 1st line of the Norwegian national team, which in the match against Denmark consisted of: Zuccarello, Thoresen and Brandsegg-Nygard. The age difference between the oldest and the youngest member is an incredible 22 years.

Norway will face Canada at the end of the tournament and then important matches against Great Britain and Austria. Should the Norwegians lose either of the UK-Austria pairing, even a win over Denmark might not guarantee retention in the elite group.

Source: IIHF, Ice Hockey World Championship 2024